Although Christmas is about a month away, we have started buying gifts, not that we want to, but it is kind of expected and once that ball starts rolling downhill, all we do is hold on and cry with our credit statements in January. I wasn't sure what direction to take this year, some years we have just decided not to get all crazy and just buy gifts for the kids. I like that idea, it's not like someone is going to give me something I wouldn't just go out and get if I needed it, but that is a little too Ebenezer Scrooge of me. The one thing that got us going is that we went to the mall, Baby A was hanging out on Saturday, we dropped him off around 2:00pm, they were going to walk around and then watch a movie. We were trying to give him his space, but once it got dark, we had no other place to go to, so we headed to the mall ourselves and that got Wife's swiping (credit card swiping) hand going.
I always also hesitate on the first gift because it sets the tone for the rest of the gifts. If I spend $300 on Mom, Wife does the same, then we have to keep it close for the dads and so on and so forth. If I spend $100 (on mom's gift), the same idea, but then my shitty siblings make fun of me for being cheap. The one year I did that I was following her cue, she always says "just buy me a bathrobe or pajamas..." I think it was last year or two years ago that I did that (nice ones from Dillard's, but still) and everybody made fun of me, well, my siblings, on how cheap I had become. So this keeps me on my toes and I know my limits.
Without really discussing it, Wife looked at some purses, and I just said "that one has colors that reminds me of how mom dresses, I'll take it" Wife pretty much chose the one next to it, and then we continued with her sisters and mine, and on and on. I think I'm just getting a bag of pecans for my dad, he says he loved it when I sent him a bag for his birthday or Father's Day.
Baby A is really hard to shop for, he is not materialistic like Boy is. If I ask Boy, he will pull out his Amazon wish list that he has on him at all times (everything from books to pens to 3D printers can be on the list), the other Knucklehead frets and worries that we are being foolish with our money and will remain vague. I think a friend or two have gotten the new X Box because he did finally say he wanted one, if we could find one. They seem almost impossible to find, we tried Best Buy, Target, Walmart, but nobody is really going to have it at the normal retail price. We did find it online at something crazy like $1300, with a game, but that sucks. I don't know if we'll get it, but it's not like he asks for much, so when he finally asks, I like to deliver.
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